Average power rating of opponents played: EDMONTON 3.19, NASHVILLE 3.34

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

EDMONTON - Schedule

Date

Opponent

Score

SU

Line

ATS

Total

O/U

2/9/2013

at DETROIT

1-2

L

0, +150

L

5.5 un

U

2/10/2013

at COLUMBUS

3-1

W

0, -105

W

5.5 un

U

2/12/2013

DALLAS

1-4

L

0, -115

L

5 ov

P

2/16/2013

COLORADO

6-4

W

0, -135

W

5 ov

O

2/19/2013

LOS ANGELES

1-3

L

0, +100

L

5 ov

U

2/21/2013

MINNESOTA

1-3

L

0, -115

L

5 ev

U

2/23/2013

PHOENIX

3-2

W

0, +115

W

5 ov

P

2/25/2013

at CHICAGO

2-3

L

0, +160

L

5.5 un

U

2/28/2013

at DALLAS

5-1

W

0, +115

W

5 ov

O

3/1/2013

at ST LOUIS

2-4

L

0, +140

L

5 ov

O

3/3/2013

at MINNESOTA

2-4

L

0, +125

L

5 un

O

3/5/2013

at COLUMBUS

3-4

L

0, -125

L

5.5 un

O

3/7/2013

at DETROIT

0-3

L

0, +135

L

5.5 un

U

3/8/2013

at NASHVILLE

3/10/2013

at CHICAGO

3/12/2013

at COLORADO

3/15/2013

DETROIT

3/17/2013

NASHVILLE

NASHVILLE - Schedule

Date

Opponent

Score

SU

Line

ATS

Total

O/U

2/9/2013

at MINNESOTA

1-2

L

0, +115

L

5 un

U

2/10/2013

CHICAGO

0-3

L

0, +110

L

5 ov

U

2/12/2013

SAN JOSE

1-0

W

0, -115

W

5 un

U

2/14/2013

PHOENIX

3-0

W

0, -120

W

5 un

U

2/16/2013

ANAHEIM

2-3

L

0, -140

L

5 un

P

2/18/2013

at COLORADO

5-6

L

0, -125

L

5 ev

O

2/19/2013

DETROIT

4-3

W

0, -120

W

5 un

O

2/22/2013

VANCOUVER

0-1

L

0, -105

L

5 un

U

2/23/2013

at DETROIT

0-4

L

0, +105

L

5 un

U

2/25/2013

DALLAS

5-4

W

0, -150

W

5 un

O

2/27/2013

at ANAHEIM

1-5

L

0, +110

L

5 ev

O

3/2/2013

at SAN JOSE

1-2

L

0, +125

L

5 un

U

3/4/2013

at LOS ANGELES

1-5

L

0, +115

L

5 un

O

3/8/2013

EDMONTON

3/9/2013

MINNESOTA

3/12/2013

at DALLAS

3/14/2013

at VANCOUVER

3/15/2013

at CALGARY

3/17/2013

at EDMONTON

3/19/2013

at COLUMBUS

KEY GAME INFORMATION

EDMONTON:

LAST SEASON: 32-40-10, 74 points. Missed playoffs by finishing 14th in the Western Conference.

COACH: Ralph Krueger, 1st year.

ADDED: LW Nail Yakupov, D Justin Schultz, D Mark Fistric.

LOST: D Cam Barker.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Yakupov was the first pick in the draft and will take his skillful shot to the second line with the slick-passing Ales Hemsky and steady center Sam Gagner. But Schultz could be a big help for the blue line, after signing with the Oilers this summer following a standout college career at Wisconsin.

OUTLOOK: Krueger was promoted this summer after spending the last two seasons as an assistant for the Oilers. The former Swiss national team coach has a tall task in front of him, to try to guide the team to the playoffs for the first time since the Stanley Cup finals appearance in 2006. He has plenty of emerging stars to help him, though, even if the lineup isn't that deep. Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall will lead the way, having signed huge contract extensions over the summer and recently earned alternate captain status. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first pick in the 2011 draft, will join them on a first line.

NASHVILLE:

LAST SEASON: 48-26-8, 104 points. Lost to Phoenix 4-1 in Western semifinals.

PLAYER TO WATCH: D Roman Josi. The Predators will start pairing the 22-year-old defenseman with captain Shea Weber trying to replace Suter, who averaged a team-high 26 minutes and 30 seconds of ice time per game last season. Josi averaged 18:23 with the Predators going 34-15-3 with him in the lineup last season and 14-11-5 without him.

OUTLOOK: With Weber and goalie Pekka Rinne now signed through the next six years, the Predators believe that core and youth has them primed to build on consecutive trips to the Western Conference semifinals and get them to the Stanley Cup.

The Nashville Predators aren't that far out of the Western Conference playoff picture, but they need to start moving in the right direction.

A matchup with the road-weary Edmonton Oilers could help.

Nashville will try to avoid a season-high fourth straight defeat on Friday night at Bridgestone Arena in the first of three meetings between these clubs over the next 18 days.

Currently 11th in the West - two points in front of Edmonton (8-10-5) - the Predators (9-9-5) are just five points back of the third spot with 25 games left.

"That's not really dire yet," coach Barry Trotz said after Thursday's practice. "The dire truth is there are 12 teams that are all around you."

The Predators can keep an eye on the standings as they reach the half-point of this shortened-season, but the focus should be on fixing an offense that's last in the league with 45 goals and 23.9 shots per game.

Nashville tallied one goal each night during a three-game California trip that ended with Monday's 5-1 loss to Los Angeles.

"We got to find something," said captain Shea Weber, who has no goals in the last six games after netting one in three straight.

The Predators added Bobby Butler off waivers from New Jersey on Monday and Zach Boychuk from Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Defenseman Victor Bartley was called up from AHL Milwaukee on Wednesday.

"Some guys have let their game slip," said Trotz, whose team has dropped seven of 10. "(Butler and Boychuk are) here for competition, and they're looking to stay in the National Hockey League so they're focused on trying to make it."

The Predators need to concentrate on improving a power play that is 1 for 14 over the last six games.

Nashville has also killed just eight of 17 penalties over the last five.

The Oilers are 0 for 7 with the man advantage during a four-game slide. They had no power plays and were shut out for the first time this season on Thursday, falling 3-0 to Detroit.

"You're not going to win games scoring zero goals so that's on us," Taylor Hall told the team's official Twitter account after the Oilers fell to 1-3-2 on a franchise-record nine-game trip.

There could be even more pressure on Hall and the team's forwards if Ales Hemsky can't go. Hemsky, the team leader with eight goals, took a puck off the side of his foot in the second period on Thursday and needed to go to the dressing room. X-rays did not reveal a break.

"We have to ice it through the night and treat it and we hope that there's a shot still but it's going to be difficult for him in Nashville," coach Ralph Krueger told the Oilers' official website.

Hemsky led Edmonton with four goals and six assists as it won three of four over the Predators last season, including both in Nashville.

Devan Dubnyk turned aside 71 of 76 shots in those two victories, but he's surrendered 22 goals while posting a 1-4-1 mark in his last seven starts.

Predators netminder Pekka Rinne, a loser of three consecutive starts, gave up six goals on just 20 shots in Edmonton's two visits last season. He was pulled both times.

Nashville's last four-game skid was an 0-3-1 stretch that ended with a 2-1 victory over the Oilers on Nov. 28, 2011.